Former New York Mayor and Trump supporter Rudy Giuliani wasted no time in blaming President Joe Biden for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, appearing on TV shortly after the start of the attacks on the European country.

       In an interview with Newsmax, Mr Giuliani claimed “demented” Mr Biden was to blame for the state of the situation in Europe.

       Follow live updates on Biden’s response to the Ukraine invasion

       “Biden came in and he said ... let’s test him, he looks like a weakling, he’s always been a weakling,” Mr Giuliani said.

       “His own cabinet secretary said he’s never gotten anything right in foreign policy. He was always a dope – and you don’t think they don’t think he’s demented,” he continued.

       “I mean, they’re not silly liberal fools like in America who lie to themselves. So this was going to happen and he did everything he could to create it.”

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       Mr Giuliani has suggested on previous occasions that Mr Biden, who at 79 is the oldest sitting president, is suffering from dementia. In a Fox News interview in 2020, when Mr Biden was then a presidential nominee, Mr Giuliani claimed the Democrat “has dementia”adding: “There’s no doubt about it.”

       He later tweeted out a poll asking his followers whether they believed Mr Biden was showing signs of dementia.

       Mr Giuliani’s longtime friend Donald Trump has suggested since the Ukraine crisis escalated that it would not have happened when he was president, bizarrely praising Russian President Vladimir Putin for his actions ahead of the invasion.

       Follow the latest updates on Trump

       “Here’s a guy who’s very savvy … I know him very well,” Mr Trump told The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show of Mr Putin. “Very, very well. By the way, this never would have happened with us. Had I been in office, not even thinkable. This would never have happened.

       “But here’s a guy that says, you know, ‘I’m gonna declare a big portion of Ukraine independent’, he used the word ‘independent’,‘and we’re gonna go out and we’re gonna go in and we’re gonna help keep peace.’ You gotta say that’s pretty savvy.”

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       Russia attacked Ukraine at around 5am local time on Thursday, also issuing a warning to other foreign nations not to react.

       “To anyone who would consider interfering from the outside: if you do, you will face consequences greater than any you have faced in history. All relevant decisions have been taken. I hope you hear me,” Mr Putin said.